


Stuck In the Middle (of a Pandemic) With You

by Thegracefulnerd



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, I started this at the beginning of quarantine and am just now finishing it RIP, Oh my god they were quarantined, a Karen makes an appearance in the grocery store, and they were quarantined, but also it's a mood?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24823015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegracefulnerd/pseuds/Thegracefulnerd
Summary: Jude was just supposed to be at Cardan's for an hour to work on a project. But what happens when the literal plague hits their university and forces them to quarantine together?
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 56
Kudos: 324





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Back at it with another Jude and Cardan fic. I regret nothing. Also, I really love this idea? I might fuck around and make it a series with other ships stuck in quarantine idk. But for now, just enjoy some COVID inspired nonsense. As always, thanks for reading and comments and kudos are super appreciated! :)

She was just trying to finish this stupid group project before the deadline. She’d finally, finally agreed to go over to Cardan’s place just so that they could work together for an hour and get most of the work done. Well, correction, she would get most of the work done and Cardan would occasionally chime in with something useful. She was just packing up her stuff when her phone buzzed. Before she could check it, she heard swearing coming from the living room. 

“What? Don’t tell me you accidentally deleted the presentation.” Jude said tiredly. It’d been a long, long hour and she was so ready to just go home and relax and never have to see Cardan outside of class again. She walked back into the living area of his apartment and saw him staring in dismay at the TV.

“Unfortunately, Jude dear, it doesn’t look like we’re going to have the presentation. It also looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other,” Cardan answered in the same tired tone that Jude had used. 

She finally looked up at the TV and felt her heart catch somewhere in her throat. Running across the bottom of the news headline, she saw the repeated message. 

ALL CLASSES AT INSMIRE UNIVERSITY CANCELLED DUE TO VIRUS. A CASE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED ON CAMPUS. ALL STUDENTS MUST REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 

Jude could’ve pulled her hair out, “That’s ridiculous! We worked for forever on that stupid project and now we can’t even present it?” 

Cardan looked over at Jude in surprise, “Seriously, that’s what you’re worried about. Or did you miss the part where they said we have to stay where we are.” 

Jude stopped for a moment and her brain finally seemed to register what Cardan was saying. “No, no, no, no, if you think I’m staying here you’re out of your mind.” 

“Do you live on campus?” He asked impatiently. 

“No.” 

“How far away is your place?” 

“…far enough…” Jude answered. 

“So, what I’m hearing is that my company is so horrible you’d rather go back to your place in panic and run the risk of transferring the plague to the rest of your family?” 

Jude was seriously considering throttling him, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. They can’t make me stay here.” At that moment, Jude’s phone buzzed again, and she looked down to see a breaking news notification. 

_BREAKING: Maine declares state of emergency, places immediate lockdown over entire state forcing residents to remain in their homes._

“Tell me again Jude dear, how they can’t force you to stay here?” Cardan asked sweetly from the couch. 

Jude glared at him, “Stop calling me that.” 

He just shrugged and went back to the TV. Jude opened up her phone and decided to do some research of her own. She was halfway through the third news article about Maine and the Virus when Taryn texted. 

_Oriana says you can’t come back home. She doesn’t want to put Madoc or Oak at risk she says._

Jude texted back immediately. 

_Oak is a kid he can’t even get it. And Madoc isn’t that old anyway._

She backed out of her messages with Taryn and went to Vivi. But it seemed as if her older sister had beat her to it. 

_We’re locked down too sis, Heather’s work had a confirmed case so now she and I are stuck in house arrest until further notice._

Jude wanted to cry. She couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. She would be able to go home right? It was a 45-minute drive and she didn’t live with any super high-risk people. Right? Besides, what’s the probability she even came into contact with the person who was sick?

Taryn finally texted back. 

_Madoc has a messed up immune system, and you know once Oriana gets an idea in her head, she’ll never let it go. Just lay low until we can figure this out. It’s not worth putting yourself and others at risk._

_You DO know that I’m at Cardan’s, right??? The person I loathe with everything in me??_

_Yes, I do and you’re going to have to get over yourself._

Jude growled in frustration and slammed her phone down onto Cardan’s kitchen table. This was humiliating. It was bad enough to be stuck in someone’s house that she hated, but she didn’t have any clothes, any toiletries, or anything to even entertain herself with besides her schoolwork (which was now pointless) and her laptop and phone. 

“So, it seems you’ve accepted your fate then?” Cardan asked sarcastically. 

Jude massaged her temples and tried to think of reasons why murdering Cardan would be a bad idea. She made it to her fourth reason before finally calming enough to speak. 

“Fine, I’m stuck here with you. That’s great. But what now? Do you even have any food that will last two people for God only knows how long?” 

Cardan waved dismissively, “Of course I do. Plenty of booze too. And it just so happens that there’s an empty guest room as well. You can crash there. First door on your right.” He pointed down the hallway of his too-big-for-a-college-student apartment and Jude just nodded sadly. She picked up her bag and phone and trudged to her new room, dread and anxiety filling the pit in her stomach. She didn’t bother to look back at Cardan when she shut the door to her room. She knew he was probably just as miserable as she was, or worse, he was reveling in the fact that she was miserable. Jude just huffed and flopped down onto her bed. This was going to be a very, very long quarantine.


	2. Day Two

“Did you sleep in those jeans?” Cardan asked the next morning. Jude had refused to leave her new room for the rest of the night and had eventually fallen asleep watching videos on Instagram. 

“Maybe.” 

“Hmm, how horribly uncomfortable. You could always just borrow some clothes, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Or you could forgo clothing all together,” he said with a smirk. 

Jude smacked him on the shoulder, “Shut-up. I’m keeping my clothes on.” 

“Buzzkill.” 

Jude only shot him a warning glare and then went into the kitchen. She felt awkward just making herself at home in Cardan’s apartment, but she was also extremely grouchy and hungry. She spotted the fancy looking coffee machine on the counter and sighed in relief. Coffee was a good place to start, coffee was always a good place to start. 

“Where’s the coffee?” Jude asked. 

Cardan motioned vaguely, “Top cabinet, front and center.” 

She opened the cabinet and found the coffee easily enough. The machine was one of those single cup brewers, so it took all of twenty seconds to get a cup going. She’d found a mug in the next cabinet over. Unfortunately, it was a ridiculous mug with a crudely drawn crown on it and I RULE written on the other side. Soon enough she had her coffee and felt slightly less awkward now that she had something to do with her hands. She leaned against the counter for a while and drank her coffee in silence, wondering if she could just crash in her car for the next week. 

“You can sit on the couch you know. Unless you’re too high and mighty for it,” Cardan piped up from the living room. She hated how condescending he sounded, it was like he was looking for any opportunity to remind her that she was stuck there. 

“Fine,” Jude said shortly. She trudged into the living room and sat down on the couch, as far away from Cardan as humanly possible. When she looked up at the TV to see people bustling around a hospital in scrubs and speaking in a tone that was far too over-the-top for legitimate healthcare workers, she groaned. “Grey’s Anatomy? Are you kidding?” 

Cardan looked at Jude and raised his eyebrows, “What? I like the drama!” He defended. 

“Change it,” Jude ordered. 

“My house, my TV, my Netflix,” Cardan shot back hotly. 

Jude choked back a growl and stood from the couch, “Fine, then I’m going back to my room.” She started down the hall before she heard a deep, long-suffering sigh from the living room.

“I’ll change it,” he conceded, but she didn’t miss the grudging note in his voice. 

She made her way back to the living and reclaimed her place on the couch, waiting for Cardan to pick something equally as horrible to watch. Instead he just tossed her the remote, “Put on what you want.”

She took it and smirked, “What? Too tired to argue?” 

Cardan shrugged, “We’re stuck together for a while, it makes more sense to try to get along don’t you think?” 

Jude tried to keep her jaw from hitting the floor and just nodded slowly before turning back to the TV. She couldn’t believe Cardan had refused to argue with her about the TV, and she definitely couldn’t believe that he was trying to make some sort of truce. They fought, all the time it’s what they did. In fact, when they were Freshman at the University and they’d been stuck in the same political science lecture, they argued so much during discussion that the professor threatened to fail them both if they didn’t just shut-up. Jude flipped through the titles aimlessly before finally settling on Criminal Minds. 

Cardan scoffed, “Of course you watch crime TV.” 

Jude just glared at him, “At least it’s not bullshit hospital soap-opera nonsense.” 

“Hey! It’s not a soap-opera!” 

Jude just took a long sip of coffee and focused on the show. Despite his initial protests, by the time four o’clock rolled around, they were still watching it and Cardan had become enamored. He’d asked Jude thirty-thousand questions about the characters, the premise, their backstories, and Jude had finally thrown a pillow at him and told him to just fucking google it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know nothing about Grey's Anatomy or Criminal Minds except what I've seen on the internet and the few episodes of Grey's I've been forced to watch in my lifetime. No shade to Grey's here, if that's your thing then you go my guy, I just personally don't like it. But, I also feel like Cardan would love the drama of it all, so that's why he's watching it.


	3. Day Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The days aren't going to go in chronological order, there's gonna be some skipping around. Just an FYI. Also I forgot to mention in that the way this fic is going to work is the chapters aren't going to be super long, which is why it'll end up with more chapters and being a longer story. Each day is supposed to just be a snapshot of how they're handling quarantine, and the ~drama~ of it all won't really pick up until a little later.

It was the fourth day of quarantine and Jude was losing her mind. Even though she and Cardan had agreed to try to stop fighting so much for the time being, that didn’t mean they automatically liked each other. In fact, sometimes it felt like it just made their hate-fueled rivalry worse. To make matters even worse, Jude was starting to feel disgusting. Though she’d finally conceded to use his shower yesterday, she still had to wear the jeans and t-shirt she’d been wearing when she first came over to his place. Four-day old jeans were not fun to sleep in.

“Jude dear, you have to change your clothes,” Cardan said from his place on the couch. 

Jude scowled, “I don’t have anything here.” 

“Dear Christ, put your pride away for two seconds and just wear something of mine. I promise, you won’t die,” he snapped. 

Jude crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her jaw stubbornly, “Forget it.” 

“You’re impossible.” 

She didn’t respond, instead she just turned back to her laptop and tried to focus on emailing her stats professor about the homework she’d assigned. 

Around two o’clock, she started to feel the temptation of new clothes. Her jeans were uncomfortable and miserable, and her t-shirt was probably disgusting from her having slept in it for the past few nights. It took until four o’clock, but when she couldn’t take the feeling of four day old clothes anymore she growled, slammed her laptop shut and stomped out of her room. Cardan was lying on the rug, reading a book and drinking which seemed to be his usual way of passing the time. 

“Okay fine. I’ll borrow a t-shirt,” Jude said without preamble. 

Cardan looked up from his book and started at Jude in surprise, “Really?” 

“Yes dickhead, I can’t take four-day old clothes anymore,” Jude snapped. She hated having to concede, she hated not having any of her things with her. It was driving her insane. Cardan picked himself up off of the rug and shot her a smirk. 

“I knew you’d come around Jude, dear.” 

“Tread lightly asshole. And stop calling me that!” 

Cardan only shrugged lazily and made his way down the hall and into his room. Jude stood in the living room, tapping her foot impatiently and trying to ignore the way her stomach was twisting and turning at the prospect of having to wear someone else’s clothes. She knew she was being dramatic, and probably overreacting but her default setting when it came to Cardan was hatred and loathing and having to get around that was difficult. He came back out of his room and handed her a t-shirt and a pair of leggings. When she gave him a questioning look he sighed, “Nicasia left them here. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” 

“Why would I make a big deal out of it?” Jude asked. She knew Nicasia and Cardan had had an on again off again thing for years, and at this point she was desperate and tired. She didn’t care whose leggings they were as long as they were clean and not made of denim. She went back to her room to change, and at first it was fine. She tossed her old t-shirt into a corner of the room and pulled on Cardan’s with no issue. It was slim, but he was so much taller than her that the length made up for it. Then she put on Nicasia’s leggings and grimaced. Nicasia was not built like Jude. She was tall and thin, all leg and little curves. Jude was medium height, and definitely had more to work with in the thigh and hip area than Nicasia did. It was a fight, and an embarrassing one at that, but finally the leggings stretched enough, and she was able to get them on. She rolled them up at the bottom- seriously how tall was this girl?- and then looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t too bad, but she still would’ve preferred being in her own clothes. 

She walked out of her room and into the living room, pointedly ignoring Cardan’s stare. “Is everything to your liking oh great Jude,” he drawled sarcastically. 

She threw another pillow at him, “Shut-up.”


	4. Day Six

They’d finally settled into some sort of routine, but Jude was still uncomfortable having to share a living space with Cardan. At first, it’d been hard to coexist, not just because they hated each other but because they were also used to living alone. For two mornings straight, Cardan had walked into the kitchen with nothing but briefs on, and Jude had had to fight the urge to clap her hands over her eyes like a scared schoolgirl.

“Put some goddamn pants on!” She’d exclaimed, trying to fight the heat rushing to her face. 

Cardan had just looked at her and smirked, “What, you don’t like it?” 

She’d just rubbed her temples and sighed, “I am going to kill you.” 

“Well that wouldn’t be any fun now would it,” he’d said. 

Now, they were slowly adapting, and sometimes it felt like they were even achieving friendliness with each other. Then, on their sixth day in quarantine, Jude had woken up with stabbing pains in her abdomen. She’d tried to ignore it and just pass it off as nausea from drinking too much. 

She was on the couch, drinking her coffee and trying not to wince at the pain in her stomach when she finally asked, “Do you know what day it is?” 

“I don’t even know what month it is,” Cardan had answered. 

“Just tell me!” She hissed.

“Fine God, it’s the fourteenth I think,” he’d answered. 

Jude did the math in her head and then buried her face in her hands. As if this situation couldn’t get any worse. 

“I have to go to the store,” she said, standing from the couch. 

“I’m sorry did you miss the global quarantine order?” 

Jude shot him a withering glare, “Stores are still open for essential needs. I have an essential need.” 

“What could possibly be so important that you’d venture out into the world of the Walking Dead?” Cardan had asked, looking genuinely kind of confused. He could be astoundingly dense sometimes. 

“Just drop it, alright? I’ll be back later,” Jude said, putting on her shoes and throwing on one of his hoodies. Yes, she’d asked to borrow one yesterday when she was kind of tipsy and cold. 

Cardan hopped up from the floor, “I’ll come with.” 

“That’s really not necessary,” Jude said quickly. 

“Jude dear, I’m bored. Also, we’re almost out of coffee,” Cardan said pointedly. 

Jude huffed, “Fine. Whatever.” 

To her dying breath, Jude would never admit it, but she was glad Cardan had gone with her. The local supermarket was insane, like actually world-ending apocalypse level insane. People were packed to the walls, rushing around with masks and gloves on and throwing piles and piles of junk into their carts. Jude had left Cardan in the groceries so she could go get some toiletries, and she’d almost had to wrestle a thirty-some year-old woman with a horrible haircut for the last box of tampons from her favorite brand. Thankfully, things did not escalate to physical violence, and Jude had managed to make it out with tampons, a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and conditioner, and deodorant. It was slim pickings, but Jude was just happy to have something that wouldn’t be borrowed from Cardan. She’d had to fight her way through the crowds, back to the grocery section, where Cardan was grabbing coffee and glaring at everyone who came too close. She had to admit, when he wanted to be Cardan could be frightening. It normally annoyed her, but now she was thankful for it. 

“Did you get what you needed; Jude dear?” Cardan asked lightly. 

Jude scowled, she’d given up on trying to get him to stop calling her that, “Yes, I did.” 

“Good, because I’m going to need your assistance getting the rest of the groceries. I need your threatening glare and hostile personality,” he told her. 

“Alright, let’s just hurry and get this over with,” Jude said. 

It turned out that when they were working together to intimidate other people instead of just trying to intimidate each other, they made a pretty damn good team. People were parting like the red sea for the angry boy dressed in all black and the equally as angry girl next to him. Jude had snapped at more than one person for getting too close to her, and Cardan had just fixed the most annoying shoppers with a cold glare.

When they made it back to his apartment, they were actually laughing. 

“Did you see that one girls face?” Jude asked, trying to contain her laughter. 

“She looked like she was going to piss herself,” Cardan said. 

Jude sat her bags on the counter and turned, “I think she actually thought I was going to kill her.” 

“I mean, sometimes I think you’re going to murder me so I can understand her line of thinking,” Cardan said, putting away the coffee. 

Jude scoffed, “I don’t think I’d actually kill you.” 

Cardan whirled around and looked at her in shock. He dramatically put a hand to his chest and gasped, “Jude dear, one would think you’re beginning to like me.” 

Jude scowled again and grabbed her bag of toiletries (and candy she’d snagged with help from Cardan), “You’re just not worth the jail-time.” 

“Hmm, sounds like sentimentality to me.” 

“You’re pushing your luck, asshole.”


	5. Day Eight

They’d passed the one-week mark, and somehow, they’d made it without killing each other. Though that was probably helped by the fact that Jude hadn’t really left her room since yesterday afternoon. Because she hadn’t had access to her stuff, which included her birth control pills to keep her period in order, she was having an extra hard time dealing with her period this month. Cardan hadn’t bothered her all day, and she thanked God that he hadn’t. He was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. 

_Doing okay?_

Jude looked at the text from Vivi and sighed. She typed out a quick reply and then buried her head back under her pillows.

_No, got my period. Still stuck at Cardan’s._

She heard her phone buzz again, but she ignored it, opting to stay under the covers and try to will her period away. It didn’t work. Two more hours passed, and Jude thought for a second that she might be dying. She wondered if her appendix had ruptured and she just hadn’t caught it, but eventually she’d talked herself out of that idea. It wasn’t that she’d never had bad cramps before, she had- that’s why she was on the pill. But since she hadn’t taken it for a week, she felt all out of whack, and her horrible cramps were back. 

She heard a soft knock at the door and groaned, “Go away!” 

But of course, Cardan wasn’t going to listen to her. She heard the door open and slowly raised up from her place under the pillows. He just walked over and placed some water and a bottle of painkillers on the bedside table. 

“Here. I can hear you whining and I’m trying to watch Grey’s,” he said stiffly. 

She scrunched her face up in confusion, “What?” 

Cardan rolled his eyes, “I do have sisters you know, and I dated Nicasia for two years. I know you’re on your period.” 

Jude scowled, “You’re the worst.” 

Cardan just hummed noncommittally, “Maybe so. Just take the painkillers and eat some chocolate so I can get back to Grey’s.” 

Jude sat up and grabbed the bottle of pills, pouring two of them into her hand and then chasing them down with the water. She blinked away the grogginess and noticed Cardan was still standing there. She smirked a little, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you almost cared.” 

Cardan scoffed, “I just want you to stop interrupting my show… and you can pick dinner tonight, if you want.” 

Jude raised her eyebrows in surprise, “I think you do care!” 

He threw up his hands in frustration, “Forget it!” He stalked out of the room and shut the door, but when Jude turned to lie back down, she saw he’d left a bag of candies on the table. The fancy kind that Jude had let slip that she loved while they were tipsy and watching Criminal Minds one night. It was one thing to joke about it to make him flustered but acknowledging that Cardan might actually care about her was more than she was willing to deal with in that moment. 

She still ate the candy though.

That night, after she’d finally emerged from her room and made her way to the couch, Cardan had kept his word and let her order take-out from the local Chinese restaurant that delivered. He’d even put on Criminal Minds without her having to ask, and when he caught her smirking at him, he glared. “I just happen to be invested in the story now.” 

“Mmhmm, sure.”


	6. Day Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter, but after this I'm going to try to lengthen them and start developing ~the relationship~ instead of just having them banter for an entire chapter. Thank you for all the kind feedback about this story! Seeing your kudos and comments make my day :)

The next morning, when Jude woke up, she grimaced at how grimy she felt. Even though she’d conceded to borrowing clothes from Cardan, she still missed having her own clothes and she really didn’t like having to reuse the same few articles of clothing every other day. He’d finally shown her the laundry room downstairs, after she’d declared that she couldn’t take it anymore and she had to have clean clothes. That’d been helpful, but it still didn’t solve the issue of having only three outfits to cycle through. Suddenly, an idea struck her and she had to fight the urge to cackle. Madoc had given her a credit card to use for emergencies, and at the risk of sounding like the protagonist from an early 2000s rom-com, this was kind of an emergency. 

After she’d made some coffee, she set up shop on the couch and scrolled through site after site, trying to find retailers that were still shipping online orders. Thankfully, several were, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Hey, what’s your address?” Jude called to Cardan. He was in the kitchen, making himself some cereal and coffee. 

He rattled off the address almost automatically and Jude typed it down into the address bar of the ‘complete order’ menu. “Why do you need it?” He asked. 

“I’m ordering clothes,” Jude said simply. 

Cardan walked back into the living room and looked at her somewhat suspiciously, “Really? And you’re having them delivered here?” 

Jude stopped her frantic typing and looked up at him, “Yeah? Is that a problem or something?” 

He shook his head, “No, no it’s just funny to me because a few days ago you were ready to sleep in your car. Now you’re having Amazon deliver stuff here.” 

“It’s not a big deal, I just want to have some clothes of my own,” Jude answered somewhat defensively. 

“Alright, it’s fine. Besides, this’ll probably end soon anyway so you’ll have a whole new wardrobe to take on the non-plague ridden world in,” Cardan said in that sarcastic drawl of his.

Jude glared at him but didn’t say anything. He turned on the TV and before he could get it switched over to Netflix, they heard the newscaster rattling off something about breaking news. 

“And, due to advice from Dr. Fauci and the CDC, many state governments are insisting that the lockdown order be extended. The state of Maine will be extending the stay-at-home order through the month of May.” 

Jude and Cardan looked at each other in horror. 

It was only March 17th. 

That meant two months. 

After a few more minutes of stunned and horrified silence, Cardan looked at her almost pityingly and shrugged, “Wanna watch Criminal Minds?”


	7. Day Ten

“No, no Taryn listen to me! I can come home, it’s not that big of a deal! Look- just hold on a sec alright? I don’t give a shit what Oriana says!” Jude exclaimed into the phone. She’d been arguing with Taryn since 9 o’clock that morning about whether or not she could come home. So far, the outlook was fairly bleak.

“Jude! I’m not going to sit and argue with you about this! Madoc and Oriana say you have to stay at Cardan’s!” 

Jude tried to keep the whine out of her voice, “But- I just wanna have my own stuff!” 

“Sorry. Maybe I can overnight it to you,” Taryn said blithely. 

Jude hung up after that. 

“Alas, it seems you’re still marooned here with me,” Cardan piped up from the couch. 

Jude leaned against the kitchen cabinets and fought the urge to smack her head into them repeatedly. Instead of starting a fight with Cardan she opted for sarcasm. “Why do you have to talk like the lead of a period drama?” 

“That’s awfully rude, Jude dear.” 

Jude shook her head and grabbed what she’d come to think of as her coffee mug out of the cabinet. It was the one with the crudely drawn crown on it, and though she still didn’t know the story behind it she thought it was funny. After she made her coffee, she made her way into the living room and plopped down in her spot on the couch. It hit her then, how weird it was that she’d already begun to make some sort of permanent space in Cardan’s apartment. She had her coffee mug, her cereal, her spot on the couch, hell even her own space in the bathroom. What was even more surprising was the realization that she wasn’t really as bothered by it as she should’ve been. Yeah, she wanted to go home and be around her stuff, but somehow in the past ten days she’d become accustomed to Cardan’s company. 

Afterall, he might be insufferable, but he was better than fighting with Oriana and Taryn. 

“I have a proposition,” Cardan said from the other side of the couch. 

Jude looked up from her phone, “What?” 

“Let’s pick a series to start together.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

Cardan sighed dramatically, “You hate Grey’s Anatomy and I am not overly fond of Criminal Minds. It looks like we’re going to be stuck like this for a while,so we should try to find some neutral ground.” 

To her surprise, Jude didn’t hate the idea, “Alright, let’s do it.” 

Unfortunately, they were still Jude and Cardan and they still had to argue over every little thing. 

“I’m not watching the Crown!” 

“What’d Queen Elizabeth ever do to you!” Cardan shot back.

Jude threw her hands up, “She just seems like a bitch! It’s probably not historically accurate either!” 

“Fine, but I’m not watching the Ted Bundy thing!”

“But it’s interesting!” 

“I’m not going to help you on your journey to becoming a serial killer.” 

“I’m not going to be a serial killer!” 

“Yesterday you threatened to kill me four separate times!” 

“You deserved it!” Jude exclaimed. 

It went on like that for an hour before they finally, finally found some common ground in Stranger Things. Cardan liked the 80’s energy and soundtrack, Jude like the eeriness around the plot and the horror feel of it all. By the end of the day, they were almost through the first season. 

“I think Will’s gonna die,” Jude said after they’d turned the TV off. 

“He so doesn’t die? There’s two more seasons with him in it?” Cardan said in confusion. 

“Spoilers, dickhead,” Jude grumbled. 

Cardan’s eyes widened in surprise, “Do you live under a rock, Duarte?” 

Jude scowled, “No, I just have a life.” 

“Sure… Now, what do you think about Barb?” 

“I don’t like her.” 

“Of course you don’t!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean any slight towards Queen Elizabeth when Jude was objecting to watching the Crown, my feelings for her are perfectly neutral.


	8. Day Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful feedback on this story! This chapter is a little longer, and I mainly used it to set up their routine and how they were adjusting to each other before I introduced the ~drama~, also idk when I started using these ~ so much but it's fun. Anyway, thank you for the comments and kudos and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

It was closing in on two weeks of quarantine at Cardan’s, and in the last week Jude had actually managed to develop some sort of routine. Her work-out clothes that she had ordered finally came in, so for the past two mornings she was up at sunrise to go for a run. Then she came back, made coffee, one cup for her, another to leave on the counter for Cardan, and then she went to shower. By the time she was showered, Cardan was usually awake, and griping about how she was up so early. Then, she would work on school-stuff and by midday they usually ended up watching TV or Cardan read while Jude messed around on her phone. That was usually how they closed out the day. 

Today was no different, she had gone for her run, made the coffee and taken her shower. Only this morning, when she left the bathroom, the smell of bacon and cinnamon hit her square in the face. She walked into the kitchen, ignoring her dripping hair, and was surprised when she was met with the sight of Cardan making breakfast. 

“You know how to cook?” Jude asked incredulously. 

Cardan looked over his shoulder at her and waved dismissively, “Oh, you’re out, I thought you’d take another half-hour. And yes, I do know how to cook Jude, dear.” 

Jude sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter. “I’m surprised, I didn’t think you knew how to be a functioning human.” 

“Well unfortunately you can’t live off of alcohol and take-out, or so it has been explained to me,” he explained. He finally turned away from the oven and raised his eyebrows at Jude, “Pick your jaw up off the floor it’s really not that shocking.” 

Jude immediately scowled, “My jaw is not on the floor, I just figured you were too spoiled to learn how to do anything for yourself.” She slid off the barstools and padded her way into the kitchen. Even if he was acting like a dick about it, she had to admit the bacon and cinnamon rolls looked and smelled pretty great. Cardan didn’t respond to the spoiled comment, he only piled some of the bacon onto a plate with a cinnamon roll and then made his way to the living room. Jude followed, piling her own plate and making another cup of coffee before settling down in the living room. They were continuing their Stranger Things binge, although they had taken an intermission yesterday so that Cardan could quote “catch up on Grey’s.” They ate in comfortable silence for a while, the only noise coming from the TV. 

“The food was nice,” Jude said finally. She’d finished a while ago, and thought she should say something to acknowledge what he’d done. 

“I try, I was tired of cereal, figured we could shake things up,” he said. 

Jude nodded and turned back to the TV and they didn’t talk about it again. By midday they’d made it to the third episode of season two, and it had become clear that they weren’t doing anything else for the rest of the day. 

“I can’t believe he adopted a slug,” Cardan commented dryly. He’d hated Dustin from the moment he'd appeared in season one, and for that reason Jude had claimed him as her favorite character, even though she thought Lucas was the better party member. 

“I don’t know I can see it, if I found something like that I think I’d want to keep it,” Jude said. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yes! Because if I found a new species, I could probably make a ton of money off of that, and plus I’d probably have a whole new species named after me,” Jude explained. 

“You’d want a brand-new type of alien slug to be named after you?” Cardan asked, clearly disgusted. 

“Sure, why not.” 

“Well at least now I know not to buy you flowers, all you have to do to win Jude Duarte’s favor is find a slug and name it after her,” he said sarcastically. 

Jude rolled her eyes, “Would you shut up and watch the show?” 

Cardan thankfully stopped talking, and they continued watching the show in silence. By the time four o’clock rolled around, they were on the second to last episode of season two. They’d agreed to stop and figure out their dinner plans so that Cardan would stop whining about how he was going to die of starvation. Jude seriously couldn’t understand how one eighteen-year-old boy could be so unbelievably dramatic. They ordered pizza, and were waiting for it to arrive when Cardan’s face lit up in a way that Jude had started to realize meant that he had an idea. It was always a bad idea. 

“What if we played Monopoly?” 

“Two people can’t play Monopoly,” Jude answered, not even bothering to question him anymore. 

“Sure they can, if they’re drunk enough,” Cardan shot back. He rose from his place on the couch and started grabbing bottles of wine from the top of the fridge. “Look in the ottoman, I think it’s in there.” 

Jude huffed, but opened up the ottoman nonetheless. She found it buried under a pile of DVDs and discarded take-out menus. 

“I can’t believe you own Monopoly,” Jude said, amusement in her voice. 

Cardan sighed, “You can’t believe I can cook, you can’t believe I own an alarmingly common boardgame, really Jude you act like you didn’t expect me to be a person.” 

“Well in my defense you don’t ever act like a person. You act like an arrogant, spoiled prick!” Jude shot back. 

Cardan rose his hands in surrender, “Whatever, I’m not arguing with you. Let’s just play.” 

“Fine, but I should warn you we had to permanently ban Monopoly in our house. The last time we played I flipped the table,” Jude said, opening the box and setting it up on the floor. 

“You? Violent? Who would’ve thought,” Cardan said sarcastically. He handed her a glass of wine and then sat down across from her to start the game. 

~

“You’re in jail fucker! I’m not paying you if you’re in jail!” Jude exclaimed. Her wine had sloshed out at her exclamation, but she refused to back down. 

“You landed on my goddamn property I want my money!” Cardan yelled back. 

They’d been like this for the past three hours. The pizza had long been eaten, and they were two bottles of wine in. When Jude had finally asked how he had so much booze for an eighteen-year-old he’d simply shrugged and said, “I have sources,” and that’d been that.

“No, I refuse. You’re a criminal and I’m not paying you,” Jude said stubbornly. 

“So help me Duarte, you are the most infuriating person I’ve ever met,” Cardan grumbled. 

“Aw, thank you,” Jude said sweetly. She took another long sip of her wine and grimaced at the bitter taste. She wasn’t a particularly huge fan of red wine, but she wasn’t one to turn down free booze. She sat down her glass and looked back up at Cardan, who was looking at the board in confusion. 

“None of this seems right.” 

“I told you two player Monopoly doesn’t work!” Jude exclaimed. 

Cardan scowled, “Whatever, I still want my money.” 

“You’re not getting the money!” 

They continued like that for a while, bickering and arguing and playing in between their arguments. Slowly though, Jude began to feel her eyelids drooping, and soon she was yawning every other sentence. She’d insisted she was going to close her eyes, just for a second so she could rest enough to finish the game. But, hours later, she’d woken up on the couch with a pillow under her head and a blanket thrown over her. Cardan had passed out on the floor, and Jude tried to ignore the fact that he looked almost… nice… when he was asleep. She rolled back over and put her hands over her head to try to block out the sun. It was too early to ponder her feelings for Cardan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ps: yes, them playing monopoly is kind of inspired by the monopoly argument trend floating around on TikTok, I hate myself.


	9. Day Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh thank you all so much for the love on this story! I appreciate every single comment and all the kudos! This chapter is a little slower, but it's to add drama or spice or whatever you want to call it. I'm so happy you're all enjoying it! :)

At the two-week mark, things started to backslide. They’d established a routine for all of four days, and after their drunken Monopoly adventure, they’d even started to become friendly with each other. Then, one morning when Jude was coming back in from her run, Cardan was already in the kitchen, but pacing and scowling deeply. 

“What happened to you? Out of coffee?” Jude said sarcastically. She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen to see what the problem was. 

“We’ve got coffee,” Cardan said shortly. 

Jude was slightly surprised by his sudden change in manner. Cardan was a volatile person that was for sure, but he’d been the one to extend the olive branch in the first place. He’d been the one to insist that they put aside their issues and try to work through this nightmare together. 

“Alright… what did you not get enough beauty sleep?” Jude joked half-heartedly. She was never good at small talk, but she great at needling people. 

“Could you just shut-up?” Cardan snapped. 

Jude stopped in her tracks and stared at him, “What the hell is your problem?” 

Cardan ran a hand through his wild hair and looked back at her with a strange expression, “You, Jude. You are my problem.” 

Jude, who had already had enough and it was only 9:30 in the morning, took the cup of coffee in her hand and tossed it onto him. “Fuck you, you prick.” She didn’t wait for him to yell and bitch about the coffee, she just stormed out of the kitchen and into the bathroom to shower. 

They didn’t speak for the rest of the day. When Jude had gotten out of the shower, Cardan was nowhere to be seen so she just went into her room and tried to kill time by herself. Eventually, she got bored and decided to FaceTime Vivi. Maybe she would have some words of wisdom. Vivi picked up almost immediately, and Jude could see that was on the couch with Heather. 

“Hey sis!” Vivi exclaimed, too animatedly for one o’clock in the afternoon. 

“Hey Jude,” Heather said. She looked up at Vivi and Jude could only describe her expression as lovestruck. She wondered if there was a hatred version of that, like hate-struck or something. That was probably how she and Cardan looked at each other. 

“Hey guys… Vivi have you been drinking?” Jude asked. 

“Noooo…” 

“Yes,” Heather said, only somewhat exasperatedly. 

“Interesting choice for one o’clock but whatever. Are you guys still stuck in quarantine?” Jude asked. 

“Yup,” Vivi answered. 

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could crash?” Jude asked, even though she already knew the answer. 

Vivi shook her head, “Sorry kid, rules are rules. We’re stuck like this until our local officials say otherwise. But I thought you were finally getting along with Cardan? You haven’t texted me a complaint in like five days. For a minute I thought you’d actually killed each other.” 

Jude huffed, “Well I don’t know! We were somewhat getting along and then all the sudden this morning he’s being a dick again. He’s moodier than anyone I’ve ever met in my life.” 

Heather raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Vivi just burst out into laughter. “Aww Jude! I think you haveee a cruusshh,” she said in a sing-song voice. 

Jude felt her face heat at the accusations but looked to Heather for assistance. “How much has she had?” 

“Too much for the middle of the day, that’s for sure,” Heather answered. 

“Nice, Viv. Look, just call me when you’re sober alright?” Jude said. She gave a half-hearted wave to Heather and then hung-up. Then she was left staring at a blank screen, and boredom was already setting in like a sickness. 

They didn’t speak for the entire day. After Jude finally got hungry enough to have to leave her room, Cardan was still nowhere to be seen and Jude thanked God for that. She’d just grabbed leftovers from the fridge and scurried back into her room. She wasn’t sure how long they would be able to keep this up in such a tiny apartment, but she tried not to dwell on that. She just pulled up Criminal Minds on her laptop and settled into the guestroom, trying to ignore the dull pang of hurt and anger in her chest.


	10. Day Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving you on such an unexpected note, but I wanted to do something to add to the drama of the situation. I tried to keep this as in character as I could, but I also knew that in canon they would've argued for a month straight and well I've never been good at drawing things out. Thank you again for the kind words and kudos! Seeing your love for this story makes me so happy!!

They still weren’t speaking. Jude had continued her routine, regardless of whatever was going on with Cardan she was still going to have some semblance of normalcy. She’d gone for her run, come in and made coffee, and when she emerged from the shower Cardan was in the kitchen, banging around and making little to no effort to be quiet. Jude just rolled her eyes and walked into her room. She wasn’t in the mood to argue that early in the morning. 

She spent most of her days in the guest bedroom, staring out the window and trying to quell her restlessness. She hadn’t realized just how stir-crazy she was becoming until her loudest and most annoying distraction had been taken from her. Instead of passing time by drunkenly playing boardgames and watching Netflix with Cardan, she was now forced to sit in near silence and deal with her thoughts and worries. Vivi hadn’t called her back since she'd FaceTimed her, and she couldn’t exactly blame her. Vivi was loving this. Not that she loved being in the midst of a global disaster, but she liked that she was able to see Heather more. And Jude knew that Taryn was probably sneaking over to Locke’s any chance she could get, despite lecturing Jude every single time she asked to come home. 

Jude really, really hated quarantine. 

She lasted until 8:00 on the fourth night of radio silence, and by then she’d felt as if the walls of the bedroom really were closing in around her. She was a stubborn woman, and normally it would’ve taken her several more days, weeks even to break first. But these were special circumstances, and if Cardan wasn’t going to speak to her anymore, she deserved to know why. She stomped out of her room, and to her mild disappointment Cardan wasn’t in the living room. She made her way into the kitchen, but he wasn’t there either. Tired and annoyed at his childishness, Jude stomped back down the hallway and knocked- well beat loudly and angrily is a better way of describing it- on his door. It took a full 30 seconds of that before the door opened to reveal a disheveled and bleary-eyed Cardan. 

“Alright look, I don’t know what the fuck I did to you, but you need to seriously get over yourself. You’re the one who said we should try to coexist, so I don’t understand why all the sudden you hate my guts again,” Jude said angrily. 

Cardan looked at her for a long time and finally sighed, “You’re right.” 

“And you know you’re just arrogant and—wait what?” Jude said, taken aback by Cardan actually agreeing with her. 

He shrugged, “You’re right. I’m sorry.” 

Jude, who’d been expecting a brawl, could only blink in surprise. “I—are you feeling okay?” 

“M’ fine, look I’m sorry about the other morning. It’s a long story,” Cardan told her. 

Jude crossed her arms and leaned back onto her heels, “Well good thing we’ve got plenty of time then.” 

Cardan raked a hand through his hair and groaned, “Alright fine, but can I eat first?” 

Jude rolled her eyes but relented. They ended up ordering take-out, again, and set up shop on the couch. It wasn’t until they were halfway through dinner that Cardan finally spoke. 

“The other morning, my mother called me. It was the first time she’d called me in months, I thought she was worried about the virus,” he laughed bitterly at that, “I should’ve known better. She was asking for money, saying that the latest poor bastard that she’d conned out of his money had finally kicked her out. She wanted to stay here, but I told her you were already in the guestroom. After about ten minutes of her yelling and screaming I finally just hung up the phone.” He refused to meet Jude’s gaze, but she knew that look. It was the look of someone who had no idea of their place in the world. It was the look of someone that was so used to faking it that when something happened that dragged them out of whatever world or scenario that they’d created for themselves, they just couldn’t deal with it. Jude was very familiar with that look. 

She didn’t voice any of that though, she just looked at him and shrugged, “Your mom sounds like a bitch.” 

Cardan snapped his attention back to Jude, and he immediately burst into laughter. “Only you Jude Duarte, could be brave enough to call someone’s mother a bitch to their face.” 

“What!” Jude asked through a mouthful of lo mein noodles. She swallowed before continuing, “Your mom just sounds like a real bitch!

Cardan kept laughing, “She is, I promise you she is.” 

Jude cracked a smile at that and tried to ignore the way the afternoon light illuminated his sharp features. Quarantine must’ve been getting to her if she was starting to find Cardan attractive… maybe she should go for runs more. They continued with their dinner, and Jude noticed the guarded expression on Cardan’s face. It must’ve taken a lot for someone like him to admit to something like that instead of being a dick about it. She guessed that normally there would have been an argument, but right now there was no use in being stubborn. They were stuck together so they both had to give a little. 

Jude cleared her throat, “I uh get what you’re saying though. About having asshole parents. My parents they took Taryn and I and in. Our birth parents were killed in an accident when we were very young. Madoc was my mother’s ex though, and they’d had a child together- my half-sister Vivi. So, Madoc took us in. He wasn’t so bad, but I’ve always suspected that his wife, Oriana, resented him for it. Resented us for it.” 

Cardan looked at her carefully after that, probably sizing her up just as she’d done to him moments earlier. “I’m sorry, about your parents,” he finally said. He looked as if he meant it, and Jude felt an odd pang in her chest. 

She shrugged, “It was a long time ago. Taryn and I made our peace with it in our own ways. Now we just take turns dealing with Oriana’s moods.” 

Cardan didn’t miss a beat, “Oriana sounds like a bitch.” 

Jude laughed and tossed her empty takeout container at him. The rest of the night was spent like that, laughing at each other and griping about the state of the world. They watched Stranger Things and made fun of the characters, and again Jude ended up falling asleep on the couch. But before she fell asleep, she realized how even though they hadn’t spoken for just a few days, she’d missed his company. Then she realized that when this disaster was finally over, she’d end up going home and he’d stay here and then all of this would be over. She didn’t know if she was relieved or saddened by it.


	11. Day Eighteen

Despite their growing friendship, or whatever this was, Cardan was getting more and more restless and it was driving Jude crazy. 

“We can’t even go to the park?” Cardan whined from his place sprawled over the couch. 

Jude shook her head, “Nope.” Her eyes never left the book she was reading. After their argument and then reconciliation, Cardan had offered to let Jude read some of the books that he had stashed away in his room. Jude had never considered herself a big reader, but she guessed that quarantine was giving everyone time to develop new hobbies. 

“Well what about the store?” Cardan asked.

“Do you need something?” 

“Well no but—” 

“Then no, we can’t go to the store,” Jude answered. She was amazed at the patience she was showing. But she guessed that almost three weeks with Cardan would do that to someone. She figured if she didn’t develop some kind of patience for his nonsense that she’d eventually have a heart attack from the ever-rising level of her blood pressure. 

Cardan let out a deep, long-suffering groan and ran a hand over his face, “Surely there’s something on this godforsaken planet that we can do besides lay here.” 

Jude finally looked up from her book, it was Alice in Wonderland and to her delight Cardan had scrawled in the margins over the years. She hadn’t mentioned it to him, but she figured she could use high-school Cardan’s musings against him in their next argument. “Look, I don’t think we’re going to be doing much of anything until this shit calms down. As of now the entire country is still under lock-down, so we’re just going to have to find a way to pass the time here.” 

Cardan crossed his arms like a petulant child but didn’t argue with her anymore about it. She turned back to her book and made it two paragraphs before Cardan spoke again. “Why can’t we be in one of those neighborhoods from Twitter, where everyone is singing and shit?”

Jude raised an eyebrow at that, “Cardan you can’t sing.” 

Cardan raised up and glared at her, “I can too.” 

“I’ve heard you in the shower, I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but you can’t sing,” Jude answered, trying her hardest not to crack a smile at the dumbfounded and slightly annoyed expression on Cardan’s face. 

“Well neither can you,” he shot back. 

Jude laughed, “I know that, Taryn and Oriana made sure to tell me every time I so much as hummed around the house.” 

He just scowled at the mention of Taryn and Oriana, “Every story about your family just gets progressively worse and worse.” 

Jude felt the urge to argue with him about it but decided to ignore it and shrug, “It is what it is.” She’d made peace with her family’s oddities years ago. She figured that if she could learn to deal with who they were instead of hoping that they would change, it wouldn’t be so crushing when they disappointed her. They were quiet for a while after that, the only sounds coming from the small amount of traffic down below and Jude’s quiet turning of the book pages. Finally, Cardan spoke up again. 

“I never apologized for what I did in high school, did I?”

Jude’s head snapped up from her book, and her eyes narrowed. Before they’d been doomed to endure college together, Cardan and Jude had gone to high school together. And middle school before that, and elementary school before that. He’d become a sort of constant in her life, a bratty, whiny, arrogant, constant. Their rivalry hadn’t picked up until high school though, when Cardan made friends with the other rich kids and decided to make Jude and Taryn’s lives a living hell. 

“No, you didn’t,” Jude answered shortly. 

Cardan scowled at the great window looking out over the small city, and Jude wondered what’d prompted him to bring up high school. He finally turned back to face her, and for once he was looking at her with a guilty expression. 

“I’m sorry, Jude. For all of it,” he said quietly. 

Jude almost dropped the book. She’d just assumed they were getting along because they were stuck in quarantine together, but this- this was uncharted territory. An honest apology for one of the most humiliating moments of Jude’s life, that he and his friends had engineered. She swallowed once, twice and then tried to find her voice. 

“It’s…” she struggled to find the right words, “I’m not going to tell you it’s okay. It was a shitty thing you did, but it was years ago… I forgive you.” 

Cardan stopped and blinked in shock. Jude assumed he’d expected a fight to ensue, not Jude to forgive him. He nodded numbly and looked at her with an emotion she couldn’t name in his black eyes. They looked at each other for another moment, before Jude finally realized it was getting tense and looked book down at her book. They fell back into comfortable silence and didn’t speak again until they were deciding on what to do for dinner. 

They were two glasses of wine in, their heated-up leftovers long since eaten, and Cardan’s eyes got that shine in them. It was the glint of mischief that meant he had an idea, probably a very bad idea. 

“Let’s play truth or dare,” he said. 

Jude shook her head, “No way, plus there’s only two of us. Isn’t that more of a group thing?” 

“We made two-person monopoly work!” 

“No, we didn’t!” Jude shot back. 

“Just humor me, Jude dear,” Cardan said. She wasn’t sure if it was the wine or just that quarantine had scrambled her brains, but she found herself nodding in agreement. 

They cracked open another bottle of wine, for some reason that’s the only alcohol Cardan kept around. He’d only ever said that he preferred it, and it was easier for his “sources” to get ahold of. She hadn’t been bothered by it; free booze was free booze. 

The first couple rounds were fairly tame, asking embarrassing questions for truths and Jude handing out outrageous dares. What Cardan had failed to realize about Jude is that she picks dare, she picks it every single time. So, he’d had to get creative in finding stupid shit for her to do. The last dare she’d done had been to climb out onto the other side of balcony railing. Cardan had only said it as half a joke, but Jude’s eyes had lit up and before he could protest, she was already halfway out the door. She was laughing, but Cardan found himself unable to laugh with her when he realized she was drunk and doing something incredibly dangerous. When she finally swung herself back over the railing, he’d grabbed her arm before she could protest so that she wouldn’t fall back. 

Now, they were laughing about a story Jude had told about Taryn and Vivi, and Jude took another long swig of wine before asking. She sat down her glass and turned back to Cardan, “Truth or dare?” 

“Truth.” 

Jude thought for a moment before she finally settled on, “What’s something that no one knows about you?” 

“No one?” 

“Uh-uh.” 

Jude watched his facial expression shift from thoughtful to unease, and she waited for his answer. The longer he took though, the more concerned Jude became. She was debating whether or not the secret was that he’d killed someone when he finally cleared his throat. 

“I’ve had a crush on you since we were in seventh grade,” he answered softly. 

Jude blinked. Then she blinked again. Her very tipsy brain finally registered what he’d said, and she gaped. She wanted to say something, something thoughtful or eloquent but instead all that came out was, “huh?” 

Cardan huffed a laugh at her expression, “Yep. That’s my great and terrible secret. I’ve been obsessed with you since Sophomore year.” 

Jude just kept staring and she blinked again, but finally an idea hit her. Words always seemed to fail her when she needed them most, but actions were bigger than words. Or louder, whatever the saying was. 

“Truth or dare?” She asked again, only a little breathless. 

“What?” Cardan asked.

“Just humor me,” she answered. 

“Fine, dare then.” 

Jude smirked, “I dare you to kiss me.” 

Now it was his turn to look shocked. But it was only temporary, and then he was slowly moving closer to her, and Jude leaned in too. They were practically nose to nose when Cardan seemed to hesitate. But Jude, ever the impatient one, surged forward and then she was kissing him. Or he was kissing her. It didn’t matter all that mattered was the way he tasted of wine, and the feeling of his hair in her hands. After minutes or hours, Jude didn’t really know, they pulled away and Jude fought back a grin. They looked at each other for a heartbeat, and then Jude said, “You could dare me to kiss you, you know.” 

Cardan laughed, “You’re absolutely relentless Jude, dear.” But then they were kissing again, and for the first time Jude was thankful for quarantine.


	12. Day Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry it took so long for another update, life just took a few really weird turns. But I'm finally back in the headspace to write for Jude and Cardan, so I should be finishing this pretty soon. The feedback on this story has been so wonderful to see I'm so glad you're all enjoying it! Your comments make my day, so thank you!

When Jude woke up, the first two things she noticed were the shooting pains in her back and the headache building behind her eyes. The next thing she noticed was that she was not alone. When she was finally able to pry her eyes open, she realized she’d fallen asleep on the wooden floor of the apartment, next to Cardan. Everything from last night came rushing back, and it was all she could do to hold in a groan of frustration. It wasn’t that she was mad that she’d drunkenly made out with Cardan, it was mostly anger at herself for not having more self-control. She should’ve done that sober, or at least not while they were stuck together for another month. Now at least a hundred different questions plagued her mind. Was it just a drunken moment of weakness? Was it just because they’d been stuck together for almost a month now? Was it just for fun? Did Cardan really mean what he said about liking her for so long? 

At that, Jude did groan. It was too early for such an intense line of thinking. She disentangled herself from Cardan and stood. Pain laced up and down her spine and she winced, sleeping on a wooden floor was not the smartest choice she’d ever made. She went to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee, all the while wondering just how fucked she was. After fifteen minutes, she finally decided to text Vivi and get her opinion.

_I have to tell you something… but I’m swearing you to secrecy_

The reply was instant

_Oh my god you killed him didn’t you?????_

Jude snorted a laugh at that. If only she had. 

_Not exactly… we may have been tipsy… I may have hypothetically made out with him_

It took two minutes for her phone to buzz again. 

_You WHAT??? How? Why?? Wait- was it good? I bet it was._

Jude found herself flushing at Vivi’s excited reaction. She’d expected the shock, but she hadn’t expected to be interrogated about it. Instead of answering, she looked over the bar to make sure Cardan was still asleep. When it became obvious that he wasn’t getting up for a while, she went into her room and changed into her running clothes. Maybe working out would help her sort through her jumbled mess of thoughts. 

~  
As it turned out, running was not a good idea. She’d had to wear a mask, as mandated by the state now, and dealing with the unfamiliar feeling of cotton against her nose and mouth coupled with the mild hangover and one cup of coffee on her stomach, she was on to verge of puking after half a mile. She didn’t turn back though, she just slowed to a walk to tried to even out her ragged breathing. 

Her phone buzzed again, and she groaned. Vivi had called this time. Jude answered, but before she could say hello Vivi was shooting off three hundred questions. 

“Why didn’t you text me back? Are you embarrassed? Was it that bad? Wait, no I stand by my assumption that it was good. If it was bad you wouldn’t have told me,” she rushed out. 

“Vivi would you let me speak?” Jude hissed. 

“Fine, fine. Tell me everything.” 

Jude sighed, “Look we were just, wine drunk and acting stupid. We ended up playing truth or dare—” Vivi gasped at that. “—we were playing truth or dare, and then he admitted to liking me and then we were kissing and I know I put my tongue in his mouth at some point oh my GOD,” she lamented. 

Vivi was cackling, “Jude! You have feelings! For a boy! I can’t believe it hold on—Heather! Babe! I owe you twenty bucks!” 

“You bet on my feelings for Cardan?” Jude asked, outraged. 

“Relax Jude, it was all in good fun. Look, I know you so you’re probably making this a bigger deal than it really is. Did you even talk to him this morning?” Vivi asked. 

Jude hesitated, “Well…” 

“You ran out didn’t you?” 

“I just didn’t know what to do! Or say! I’m stuck here for another month, what if this makes everything awkward or what if he’s mad at me for it? Like maybe he didn’t even mean what he said maybe he just wanted to get laid or something.” 

“Did you fuck him?” 

“NO! Jesus Christ Vivi,” Jude exclaimed, her face heating. 

“Well then he clearly wasn’t looking to get laid or you would’ve fucked, look Jude just go back and talk to the boy. I promise it’s not that deep.” 

“Yeah, whatever. I’ve gotta go. And listen, don’t tell Taryn. I don’t want to hear it,” Jude said. 

Vivi hummed in agreement, “Of course. Text me later.” 

“Yeah bye.” Jude pocketed her phone and leaned against the tree closest to her. She’d been using the trail in the local park to run for the past month, and it’d slowly become one of her favorite spots. She thought about what Vivi had said and she felt a pit of uneasiness open in her stomach. She hated jumping into the unknown, and she really hated it when feelings were involved. But now she couldn’t run, she was still stuck living with him. So maybe she should just try to talk to him. The thought of talking about her feelings with Cardan made her sick to her stomach, and she punched the tree in frustration. She hated this. 

~

“I see you’ve had a very eventful morning,” Cardan said as soon as she walked in the door. She looked up at him and groaned, still feeling sick from trying to run in the heat while being hungover. 

“Tried to go for a run, didn’t work out,” Jude answered. She pushed past him into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He didn’t say anything, he was just looking at her carefully, probably trying to figure out if she was angry or not. “I’m not mad or anything. I don’t regret it,” she said finally. 

Some of the tension seemed to leave him at that, “Then why’d you run out as soon as you woke up?” 

Jude shrugged and leaned against the counter, “I don’t- I just—I needed to think y’know? Gather my thoughts.” 

His eyebrows raised, “Oh? And what thoughts did you gather?” 

Jude scowled, “Nothing, they’re still all scrambled. Vivi called me, but she just asked a bunch of questions and offered sub-par advice.”

“And why, pray tell, would you need advice?” He asked, but now he was grinning. He wanted to hear her admit she had very confusing feelings for him. 

She crossed her arms, “Just needed advice on how to deal with the arrogant prick I’m living with.” 

Cardan laughed, “That’s a very different attitude from last night, Jude dear.” 

She scowled again, trying to piece together what she wanted to say. After a few minutes of somewhat awkward silence, she finally took a deep breath. “I don’t handle things like this very well alright? I don’t regret it, and I’m really not angry with you. I just… it’s easier to be angry with someone instead of admitting how you really feel.” 

He sighed, “A very fine line between love and hate no?” 

She shrugged, she wouldn’t say she loved him but she definitely didn’t hate him. “I suppose.” 

He crossed the kitchen and stood in front of her, still looking at her as if he were trying to figure out exactly what she was thinking. He took her hands in his, and for once she didn’t protest the contact. “Well, what if instead of thinking about it and giving ourselves a headache, we just continue on with our routine?” 

Jude faltered, “Wait- do you regret it?” 

Cardan seemed surprised, “Of course not? Why would I?” 

She suddenly felt embarrassed for asking. There was no need to reveal how insecure she was about this. “I don’t know, just wanted to ask.” 

“Jude dear, there is no world in which I will ever regret kissing you.” 

She looked up at that and met his dark eyes. “That was strangely… sweet?” 

He laughed, “I can be very charming.” 

She rolled her eyes, “Shut-up,” he was still grinning at her and she felt her resolve break and she cracked a grin in return. “Look, I’m going to shower and then what if we just spend the day on the couch, like normal?”

“I’m alright with that idea,” he answered. He was still holding her hands, but she slowly pulled away and made her way towards the bathroom. She was almost there when she heard him yell, “I could always join you, Jude dear!” 

She fought down a laugh, “Not there yet!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: Jude would want you to wear a mask in public or else she'd stab you. Wear a mask!!!
> 
> Edit 08/09/20: Guys I am so sorry that I let this fit get away from me, its been a very daunting month and a half lol. I promise I haven't forgotten it though! Just give me a little bit of time and I'll get it wrapped up.


	13. Day Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that I let this story sit for as long as it has. Online school was hell and earth and I genuinely had no extra free time to write. It was also hard getting in the right headspace to write for Jude and Cardan again, but I think I'll be able to finish this very soon. Thank you for your comments and kudos, I really appreciate them!

“So, are you dating now?” Vivi asked excitedly. 

“What!” Jude exclaimed, “No, no way.” 

“But you just told me you’ve been making out kind of regularly, and you said you slept with him the other night!” 

“I said I slept in his room I didn’t say I _slept_ with him,” Jude hissed back. 

She heard her older sister huff in frustration, “Well that’s even worse than just sleeping together. Just admit it, Cardans your boyfriend!” 

Jude shook her head in disbelief, “Whatever, look I don’t really know what this is yet I was just calling to update you because you haven’t stopped texting me since I told you that we kissed.” 

“Yeah because you said ‘oh my god I kissed Cardan!’ and then I never heard back,” Vivi shot back. She had a point there, Jude couldn’t deny. 

“Fine Viv, look I’m almost back to the apartment, I’ll call you later,” Jude said. 

“Wait- did you just hear yourself?” Vivi said suddenly. 

“I said I’m almost back at the apartment?” 

“Right there! Its not even his apartment anymore its, The Apartment,” she said, excitement and teasing in her voice. 

Jude answered by hanging up the phone. 

The past five days had been an adjustment. Instead of sitting six feet away from each other, they were now right next to each other, all the time. Jude hated to admit it but it was nice. It was nice leaning on someone while watching TV, it was nice having someone to talk to about everything and nothing, and okay fine it was nice kissing Cardan. But the second Vivi had suggested he was her boyfriend, she just panicked. That felt too real, that felt too permanent. Jude shook the worried thoughts from her head and walked into the apartment. Cardan still hadn’t pulled himself out of bed, so she took to making their morning coffee. She was just starting on his when she felt arms wrap around her waist. She tensed immediately, and only slightly relaxed when Cardan spoke. 

“You left awfully early Jude, dear,” he said in a low voice. 

Jude kicked herself for the thoughts that arose when she heard his morning voice and tried to speak steadily. “I go running every morning Cardan.” 

“Yes, but you were in my bed this morning. I would’ve liked to have woken up with you,” he said, sounding both parts genuine and whiny. 

She reached up and patted the side of his face half-heartedly, “Sorry to disappoint,” she turned in his arms and held up his coffee, “Here.” 

He took it and stared at her skeptically, “Why did you take off so early?” 

“Cardan, I run every morning.” 

“But you always leave at eight. This morning you left at seven,” he said. 

Jude internally cursed. She couldn’t even lie right because they were already living together. “Look I don’t know I just wanted the fresh air.” Cardan looked at her skeptically but didn’t push the subject. “I’m gonna hop in the shower,” Jude said suddenly. She left the kitchen and rushed into the bathroom without waiting for Cardan’s usual comment of “can I join?”

Vivi’s words were still bouncing around in her head, setting her on edge and making her feel as if she were coming out of her skin. Jude wasn’t sure what this was with Cardan, but she knew that it was new, and that it was something she didn’t want to fuck up. But at the same time Jude couldn’t help but wonder if this was something brought on by being stuck together for months on end, like some sort of twisted Stockholm syndrome. There was no logical reason for her and Cardan to be together, and yet here they were. By the time Jude had stopped trying to do mental gymnastics, the shower water was running cold. 

~  
She’d just reemerged from her room when Cardan finally broke. “What’s going on, Jude?” He asked, sounding a little concerned. 

Jude huffed and sat down across from him on the couch, “Nothing it’s just something Vivi said this morning… I—am I—” she struggled to get the words out, communicating her feelings was never her strong suit, “Am I your girlfriend?” 

Cardan raised an eyebrow, “Do you want to be?” 

Jude bit her lip, “Yes? No? I don’t know. Look, I like you, and I like this thing we have. But with everything going on what if it’s some sort of fluke? Or what if quarantine ends and we realize we still hate each other? I mean Christ we’re already living together, and we just started this what, a week ago?” 

Cardan looked surprised and Jude’s sudden outburst. In fact, it took him a second to compose himself and find the right thing to say. Finally, he just grabbed Jude’s hand and tried to appear reassuring, “Jude, this isn’t a fluke. At least not for me. It’s always been you, no matter how badly I hated it, it’s always been you, even at our worst. I can’t say what will happen when the quarantine ends but I don’t think we’ll go back to loathing each other.” Jude nodded and tried to find comfort in his small speech, “I don’t care if you’re my girlfriend or not, all I care about is the fact that I get to spend time with you that isn’t violent fighting.” 

Jude found herself relaxing at that. Cardan was right there was no need to label this or try to put it in a box. They’d hated each other, now they liked each other end of story. “Alright. You’re right I’m sorry I didn’t mean to freak.” 

“What was that? Did Jude Duarte just admit that I was right about something?” Cardan teased. 

Jude scowled, “Don’t make me take it back you prick.” 

“Charming to the last, Jude.”

~  
The next morning Jude decided to do something out of the ordinary for her. She broke her routine. Instead of going for her morning run, she decided to make it an afternoon run and spend the morning in bed, with Cardan. She thought of it as making up for yesterday’s outburst. Despite her plan to stay in bed though, she found herself getting restless. She was an early riser, and Cardan was rarely out of bed before noon most days. She turned on her side to face him, and suddenly stopped. In all the time she’d spent with Cardan over the past month, she’d never really _looked_ at him. She’d never really noticed how his sharp features soften when he’s asleep, or the way his hair curls around his face or the slight points to his ears. She had the sudden urge to reach out and brush his unruly hair back from his face, and she almost did it. But a little voice at the back of her head taunted her for it, and she didn’t. 

She could practically hear Madoc in her ear, calling her a lovesick child and chastising her for falling so easily for someone who had made her life a living hell. But in that moment, for once Jude didn’t give a single shit about what her foster father thought of her. She’d spent so much time trying to impress him and trying to build up an armor against the world that she hadn’t let herself love freely or really experience life. Now, she was stuck with someone who only lived life to the fullest and didn’t care what the repercussions were. Sometimes she found herself envying Cardan and the carefree way he lived. But then she remembered his comments about his mother, and she wondered if his life had been so carefree after all. 

Too many thoughts about Madoc and her family and Cardan’s mother popped up in her head, and Jude tried to shake them from her thoughts. Right now, she just wanted to experience waking up next to the boy she liked. In the end, she did end up pushing the hair back from his face and letting her hand linger there a little too long. She pulled back her hand, but he grabbed it and held it in place. 

“Jude, dear are you being dare I say, affectionate?” Cardan asked, his voice heavy with sleep. 

Jude flushed and shook her head, “How are you this annoying first thing in the morning?” 

Cardan smirked, “Call it a hidden talent.” He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm before relinquishing his hold on her hand. He turned back to her, and this time he smiled. “Good morning, Jude.” 

“Good morning Cardan.”


	14. Day Twenty-Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God! Your response to the last chapter was so sweet! I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying this story and are excited that its back. I don't have a lot left to write as far as plot goes but I'll try and deliver a few more domestic scenes before I close it out. Thanks again for all your wonderful feedback!

“We need to pick another series,” Jude said suddenly. They were sitting on the couch, like normal, but instead of them each doing their own thing they were lying together and making random comments. 

“Last time we picked a series it ended in the worst way possible,” Cardan said dryly, lazily trailing his hands up and down her arm. 

Jude sat up so that she could see his face, “Seriously?” 

Cardan made a face, “Seriously! They ended it by killing a fan favorite, and then they moved out of Hawkins? What kind of shit writing is that?” 

Jude rolled her eyes, “Oh my God Cardan it’s just a TV show.” 

“Well it was upsetting to me, you just lack the full spectrum of human emotion Jude, dear,” he flicked her nose as if to emphasize his point. 

She pushed his hand away impatiently, “Shut-up prick, come on we have to find something to do.” 

Cardan groaned, but eventually sighed in defeat, “Alright, alright let’s pick another series.” 

Jude sat up and grabbed the remote and they began their search. Despite all the changes in their relationship, one thing remained the same: they couldn’t agree on shit. 

“I told you I’m not watching the crown!” 

“But the newest season has Princess Diana!” Cardan argued. 

“Why do you care so much about the royal family?” 

“Why _don’t_ you care about the royal family?” 

“Whatever look what about the Haunting of Hill House, or Twin Peaks,” Jude demanded.

“Why is everything you pick so dark and mysterious?” 

“Why is everything you pick ridiculous!” 

“Alright look, I have an idea—” 

“Oh, he has an idea someone alert the press.” 

“As I was saying,” he said frustratedly, “I have an idea. Let’s just scroll a certain number of times and whatever it lands on we have to watch.” 

Jude thought about it for a second and eventually nodded, “Okay, that’s probably the only way we’re watching something tonight so let’s do it.” They both closed their eyes, and Jude scrolled until Cardan told her to stop. When she opened her eyes, she grinned and glanced at him. 

“You’re kidding me,” Cardan groaned. 

“Hey, you’re the one that had the idea.” 

“But this show is notoriously terrible,” he argued. 

Jude shrugged, “It’s about monster hunters, how bad could it be?” 

Cardan just shrugged in response and they began the first episode. 

~  
“Okay so the water is evil?” Jude said, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. 

“Apparently so,” Cardan answered. 

They were on the third episode of the show and so far, Jude didn’t hate it. It was the perfect blend of dark and campy that could appease both herself and Cardan. She liked the whole fighting monsters idea, and Cardan liked the overdramatic writing. Although he hated their wardrobe with a passion. He’d complained at least fifty times about the usage of plaid and flannels in the show. 

“But how can water just, kill people?”

“I don’t know, perhaps if you watch you’ll find out.” 

Jude just turned and stuck out her tongue at him. He only laughed in response and pulled her closer to him. They watched the rest of the episode in silence, and Jude found herself at ease with the domesticity of it all. 

“I’m gonna grab some wine,” Cardan said after the episode ended. 

“It’s only two o’clock!” 

“Quarantine time dearest, it’s always five o’clock these days,” he said dismissively. Jude only rolled her eyes and turned back to the TV. She was scrolling through the list of episodes in season one when her phone rang. She looked at it and sighed before she answered. 

“Hello?” 

“When were you gonna tell me!” Taryn yelled. 

“Tell you what?” Jude asked, as if there wasn’t anything Taryn could possibly be referring to. 

“That you and Cardan are hooking up now!” 

“Jesus Christ do you people have hearing issues? We’re not hooking up,” Jude hissed. She craned her neck to see if Cardan had heard or not, but she couldn’t see him well enough to tell. 

“Well whatever- do you still want to come home?” 

“What?” 

“Yeah I haven’t gotten a call in like three weeks, I was starting to think you actually killed him and were on the run until Vivi told me yesterday,” Taryn explained. 

“I- no, I mean at some point yeah but—” Jude faltered. She hadn’t really thought about going home. Really even before they became a thing, Jude had gotten comfortable living with Cardan. In fact, she found herself wanting to say no to Taryn’s question. 

“Well whenever you want dad cleared you to come home,” Taryn told her. 

“Wait- really?” Jude asked. 

“Yeah, apparently its been long enough that if you were ever exposed to it, it should be gone by now.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, so do you want to come home?” Taryn asked again. 

Jude looked back up to see Cardan leaving the kitchen with two wine glasses and a bottle in his hands. It was such a small thing, but Jude realized it was something she’d miss. Getting wine drunk Cardan in the middle of the day while watching terrible Netflix shows. It was part of her life now, part of her routine. She hadn’t realized it, but Cardan was a permanent fixture in her life now, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to end that so soon. 

“Uh, you know what I’ll text you later. Bye Taryn,” she hung up after that, tossing her phone to the side and ignoring the buzz coming from Taryn’s probable call back. 

“What was that all about?” Cardan asked, sitting down beside of her and handing her one of the glasses. 

She took it and shook her head, “Nothing.” 

Cardan raised his eyebrows, “It didn’t sound like nothing.” 

Damn. Jude extended her glass and Cardan immediately poured wine into it. She took a few sips before finally answering. 

“Madoc says I can come home,” Jude said carefully. 

Cardan’s face fell, but it lasted only a second before he was drinking and acting aloof again. 

“Well I imagine you’re eager to leave your prison,” he said only somewhat sadly. 

Jude shook her head, “I didn’t say that.” 

Cardan looked at her skeptically, “Oh really?” 

She shrugged, “I mean it’d be nice to have some variety in my wardrobe, but who would want to give up booze in the middle of the day?” 

Cardan grinned, “You’re relentless Jude, dear.” 

And just like that, Jude was stuck at Cardan’s. But this time she didn’t mind at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> $20 to whoever can guess what their watching


	15. Day Thirty-Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this! It was really fun to write. Also, to those of you that guessed yes they were watching Supernatural I'm back on my bullshit, I'm so sorry to drag you down with me lmao. Thanks again for your comments I read every single one and they make my day! :))

A day later, Jude had found a hole in her only pair of leggings. It was just in the seam, but her frustration was clear. 

“It’s because I wash them so much, I only have so many pants to cycle through though. God, I wish I just had my stuff,” Jude complained to Cardan. 

“Well, why don’t you go get it? Your father gave you the all-clear,” Cardan answered. 

“Yeah, but I thought I was staying here,” Jude said. For a second she was afraid Cardan had gotten tired of her after all and was trying to kick her out. 

“Yes, you are but that doesn’t mean you can’t go home and get your stuff,” he said. 

Jude thought about it for a second, “You’re really okay with me staying here?” 

“Jude, dear I really have no interest in spending this quarantine alone, and I happen to prefer your company to that of others.” 

And that was that. 

~

One week later, Jude was heading back home. The temptation to have her own belongings had become too great, and she’d finally decided to go back for a weekend and grab her stuff. Well, that’d been her initial plan. Of course, Cardan had taken issue with this plan namely because it didn’t involve him. 

“You’re leaving me after all,” he’d lamented. 

“Cardan I’m going home for the weekend to grab some of my clothes, which if you remember was your idea,” Jude shot back, tired of arguing with him. She was in her room packing, while Cardan yelled at her from his place on the couch. 

“No, you’ve tired of me. You’ve had your way with me and now you’re abandoning me,” he groaned. 

Jude rolled her eyes, “You’re so fucking dramatic I have not _had my way with you_. And I’m coming back, you’re acting like I’m going off to war.” 

Cardan huffed, “Well it feels like you’re leaving forever. This apartment is too big to be all alone in for an entire weekend.” 

“Need I remind you that you lived alone a month ago?”

“Yes, and then a very grouchy political science major moved in. Forgive me for growing accustomed to her company.” 

Jude sighed and stopped packing, “You can always come with me.” 

Silence. 

For a second Jude thought he didn’t hear her. “I said you can come with me!” she repeated. She was again met with silence and for a second she wondered if she’d crossed some sort of invisible boundary between them. 

“You’d let me meet your family?” Cardan asked suddenly. 

Jude shrugged, just glad that he was talking again, “Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I don’t know if you’ve met me Jude, dear but I’m not someone people like to bring around their parents,” Cardan answered sounding a little bitter. 

“Well, if you’d stop bitching for ten seconds and pack your shit up you could become one of those people,” Jude answered simply. 

~  
And that’s how Jude and Cardan ended up in Jude’s ancient Jeep, rattling along down the highway and fighting with each other about Jude’s driving. 

“You cut that guy off, Jude!” 

“Well he shouldn’t have been in my way!” 

Cardan had looked skyward then, “If you’re up there, please allow me to live another day.” 

Jude rolled her eyes, “You’re being overdramatic.” 

The rest of the forty-five-minute car ride had been spent bickering back and forth about everything and nothing. Jude pulled up to her house and was suddenly hit with a sense of embarrassment upon seeing Madoc’s great two-story monstrosity in the suburbs. She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed but knowing that Cardan came from a lot of money made her feel as if her living situation was somehow beneath him. They were an upper-middle class family, but she just felt hyper-aware of that status now that Cardan was with her. 

“Well, here we are,” Jude said, trying to ease the tension that’d settled over the car. 

Madoc’s great black SUV was in the driveway along with Taryn’s silver four-door. Jude’s was the only car that looked as if it didn’t belong, and that was because she’d saved and saved so that she could buy it herself. She hadn’t wanted to feel any more indebted to Madoc than she already did. 

“It’s nice,” Cardan said. She chanced a look at him and felt herself relax when she didn’t see any signs of annoyance or disgust on his face. 

Jude climbed out of her car and grabbed her bag from the back, and without waiting for Cardan marched her way up to her door. She’d told Taryn last second that Cardan was coming too, and she hadn’t left any room for argument. She assumed Oriana would be thrilled, Madoc as well, but she didn’t really care. She knocked on the door and to her surprise her eight-year old brother, Oak, opened the door. 

“Jude!” He flung himself at her legs and she laughed. 

“Jesus, look at you, I’ve been gone a few months and you’re suddenly six feet tall,” Jude teased. She used her free hand to ruffle his unruly brown curls and he scowled. 

“I’m not six feet tall,” Oak protested. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide and Jude could only assume it was because he’d caught sight of Cardan. Thankfully, he looked fairly tame today, Jude had persuaded him to dress casually although he refused to part with the many rings he wore. 

Jude cleared her throat, “Oak this is my—this is Cardan. Cardan, this is Oak.” 

“Hello,” Cardan said. 

Oak crinkled his nose, “You look funny.” 

Jude felt her face heat up, “Jesus Oak, could you act like a person for once. Come on, let me in.” He moved aside and Jude made her way to the staircase against the left wall, “Come on,” she said to Cardan. She made her way up the steps and walked the familiar trek to her room. She dumped her bag onto her bed and was suddenly aware she hadn’t cleaned her room since she left for school back in January. Clothes were thrown everywhere, old notebooks and textbooks were piled on her desk, books were shoved haphazardly into her one bookshelf, and her bed was a mess of sheets and blankets and pillows. 

“I never took you for the messy type,” Cardan said when he walked in. 

“Well, I packed in a hurry,” she said defensively. Which was true. As soon as the dorms had re-opened Jude had thrown her shit in a bag and taken off. 

“Still, it’s a very Jude-esque room wait—is that a poster of the agent from Criminal Minds?” Cardan asked suddenly. 

Jude looked up and flushed, Taryn had bought her that as a joke and she’d taped it up over her desk in response, “Shut-up. You have a picture of Brooke Shields shoved into your copy of Alice in Wonderland.” 

It was Cardan’s turn to flush, “I hate you.” 

“I know.” 

~

Shortly after they had a competition to see who could embarrass the other the most, (spoiler alert Jude won), Oriana called them downstairs to dinner. As soon as Jude hit the first floor of their house she was nearly tackled off of her feet by her eldest sister. 

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Jude said by way of greeting. 

“We got the all clear from Heather’s work, and Madoc said it was cool. I wanted to see you!” she leaned close and whispered in Jude’s ear, “And I wanted to meet your boyfriend.” 

Jude kicked her in the shin. 

“Hey Jude,” Heather said coming to stand beside of Vivi. 

Jude waved, “Hey Heather.” 

There was an awkward pause before Jude remembered the black-clad elephant in the room, “Oh yeah, this is my friend Cardan. Cardan this is my sister Vivi and her girlfriend Heather.” 

“Nice to meet you, I’ve heard much about you Vivienne,” Cardan said, and Jude was taken aback by his sudden change in manner. Then she remembered that Cardan was a rich kid and had probably been forced to learn half-way decent manners by his shitty family. 

“Yeah, anyway dining room is this way,” Jude grabbed Cardan’s hand and dragged him into their dining room before Vivi could start asking personal questions. 

To her surprise Taryn was already there, and thankfully her shit boyfriend was not with her. Madoc, all six foot four of him was seated at the head of their table, looking as ex-military as humanly possible. She wondered if he’d done it on purpose to scare Cardan. He probably had. Oriana was looking ethereal as always, dressed in a silver dress that was a little too fancy for a family dinner. 

“Jude! It’s so good to see you!” Her twin exclaimed. 

Jude tried to smile but it felt more like a grimace, “Hey Taryn.” 

“So, are you going to introduce us?” Taryn asked. 

“Right,” Jude cleared her throat, “Guys, this is Cardan.” 

“Thank you for letting Jude stay with you during the quarantine,” Madoc said gruffly. 

Jude expected Cardan to falter under Madoc’s harsh gaze, but he only smiled brightly, “It was no problem.” 

They sat down across from Vivi and Heather, and then dinner started. 

~  
Later, they were lying in Jude’s bed and Cardan was still laughing at something Oak had done at dinner. 

“I like your family,” Cardan said suddenly. 

Jude smiled, “Thanks. I’m just glad they were behaving tonight. Its normally far more dysfunctional.” 

“It did get a little tense when Vivi and your father started discussing politics.” 

Jude groaned, “Don’t even get me started. I’m just glad Locke wasn’t here.” 

Jude felt Cardan stiffen beside of her. “Locke?” 

“Yeah, Taryn’s boyfriend. She normally brings him around all the time. Why?” 

“We were friends once,” Cardan said, only relaxing slightly, “He’s a tool.” 

“You’re telling me,” Jude grumbled. They fell into comfortable silence, and Jude stared up at her bedroom ceiling. It felt strangely intimate having Cardan in her room, like he was seeing a part of her she’d never shown him before. 

“Your sisters are nice, I quite like Vivienne,” he said after another moment of silence. 

Jude hummed in response; she was getting sleepier by the second. She heard Cardan ask her something, but it sounded far away. He spoke again though, and this time she heard him. 

"You introduced me as your friend," he commented.

"Are we not friends?" Jude asked, though she had a feeling where he was going with this. She was pretty sure friends didn't sleep together and kiss each other and spend entirely too much time with each other.

"I'm pretty sure friends don't regularly make-out with each other," Cardan said dryly, echoing her thoughts.

Jude raised up onto her elbow so that she could look him in the eye, "I thought labels didn't matter."

"They don't, it just feels weird being introduced as your friend."

"What would you have me say then? Lover? Arch-enemy? Sidekick?" Jude teased.

"As appealing as those options are, why not just go with boyfriend."

Jude nodded, "Fine then. You're my boyfriend."

"I'm your boyfriend," Cardan repeated.

"And I'm your girlfriend," Jude said.

"And you're my girlfriend," Cardan said again.

Jude laughed a little at the absurdity of it and she settled back into Cardan's side and placed her head on his chest. He ran his fingers through her unruly hair, and she heard him sigh contentedly. Boyfriend and girlfriend, she could live with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but Brooke Shields was the first actor I thought of when I thought of someone Cardan might crush on, also I didn't have a specific agent in mind for Jude's poster if you watch the show just guess at who Jude would stan. My guess would be Hotchner but that's just me.


End file.
